Could 2015 Be the Biggest Movie Year Ever?

With this weekend’s holiday comes the official close of the 2013 Summer Movie Season. We’ve seen our share of flops (The Lone Ranger), hits (Iron Man 3), and surprises (Now You See Me), and while there are definitely some exciting films on tap for next year, keen fans have already started looking excitedly at 2015. Why skip over an entire year, you ask? Well, if all goes according to plan, 2015 will see a perfect storm of sorts, as a crazy number of massive franchises are poised to launch some highly anticipated properties. Two years from now, The Avengers follow-up will square off against Batman vs. Superman, and a brand new Star Wars film is poised to open alongside the long-promised Jurassic Park sequel.

As the Labor Day weekend is normally a time of relaxation, we thought it might be fun to look ahead to the craziness that will ensue two years from now. Hit the jump as we run down the nutty release schedule for 2015, including what we know about each film thus far.

One thing to keep in mind before we get started: these dates are not set in stone. As we’ve seen countless times before, studios shift release dates around or scrap them altogether. As such, at least one of the following films will probably be pushed or shifted around between now and 2015, so don’t view this list as final. That being said, here’s a look at the planned 2015 release date calendar as of right now.

What We Know So Far: Chronicle helmer Josh Trank is onboard to direct Fox’s reboot, titled The Fantastic Four, and the young filmmaker has X-Men: First Class director Matthew Vaughn onboard as a producer. We still don’t have a firm start-of-production date for this one just yet, and it appears that casting has been tricky. Miles Tellerwas rumored to play Mr. Fantastic but Trank shot that one down pretty quickly, and there have also been rumblings of Elizabeth Olsen and Girls star Allison Williamspossibly playing Susan Storm and Michael B. Jordon lighting up as the Human Torch.

Whomever Trank finally enlists as his core castmembers, it’s clear that he is going young. Seth Grahame-Smith (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Slayer) came on to do a polish of the script in February, but expect filming on this one to get underway sometime early next year.

What We Know So Far: Disney appears to be on a kick of reimagining its classic animated films in live-action form, and Cinderella will be the second one out of the gate after 2014’s Maleficent. Though Mark Romanek was originally attached to direct and went so far as to cast Cate Blanchett as the evil stepmother, he eventually departed the project over creative differences and Thor director Kenneth Branaghnow takes the helm.

Blanchett is still onboard as the evil stepmother, while Downton Abbey actress Lily James plays the titular role. The cast is rounded out by Richard Madden (Game of Thrones) as the handsome prince, Sophie McShera (Downton Abbey) and Holliday Granger (The Borgias) as the stepsisters, Stellan Skarsgard as the king’s advisor, Hayley Atwell (Captain America) as Cinderella’s biological mother,and Helena Bonham Carter as the fairy godmother. Filming is currently underway in London.

What We Know So Far: While anticipation for Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane‘s directorial debut Ted was certainly high, few could have imagined that the R-rated comedy would go on to gross a whopping $549 million worldwide. Obviously Universal was itching for a sequel, but MacFarlane opted to shoot his Western comedy A MillIon Ways to Die in the West first. That film is currently in post-production and a recent report has the Ted sequel pegged for April 2015. The date could certainly change as the film hasn’t even entered pre-production yet, but MacFarlane and Mark Wahlberg are both game to return so it would appear the the only obstacle is scheduling. Again, not much is known just yet and the sequel could eventually hit theaters a little later, but make no mistake: Ted 2 is indeed coming.

What We Know So Far: Marvel’s superhero sequel comes with massive expectations, but the studio is doing everything in its power to live up to the promise of the first film. Joss Whedon is back onboard to write and direct, James Spaderis playing the villain, and new Avengers team members include Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Quicksilver and Elizabeth Olsen as Scarlet Witch (both of whom are currently in negotiations with Marvel). Tom Hiddleston’s Loki will not be appearing in the follow-up, as the Avengers will instead face off against the evil robot Ultron—to be played by Spader in a bit of truly inspired casting.

Whedon has said that Ultron’s origin story will be changed for The Avengers 2, so don’t expect to see Hank Pym aka Ant-Man make an early appearance. Whedon has also revealed that Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow is “a huge part” of the follow-up, and has plans to expand Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye role as well. Filming begins the first week of March on what will act as Marvel’s capper to its Phase Two lineup of films.

What We Know So Far: In 2015, we will likely see two films try to break the curse of video game feature film adaptations. First up will be Assassin’s Creed, which will star Michael Fassbender in the lead role. Fassbender is producing the film as well, but beyond that we don’t really know much. English playwright Michael Lesslie penned the initial script, but Minority Report scribe Scott Frank was recently brought on to perform a rewrite, so Ubisoft and Fox appear to be moving forward full-speed ahead. With the summer release date looming, we should expect to hear a director announcement in the coming months.

What We Know So Far: The first of two Pixar films slated for release in 2015, Inside Out is the next feature film from Up and Monsters Inc. director Pete Docter and takes place inside the mind of Riley, an 11-year-old girl who recently moved with her family to San Francisco. Instead of centering on Riley, however, the central characters in Inside Out are Miley’s emotions: Joy (Amy Poehler), Disgust (Mindy Kaling), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Bill Hader), and Sadness (Phyllis Smith). With both a wonderfully original story and a pitch perfect voice cast, Inside Out could serve as a breath of fresh air amongst the franchise onslaught of the summer.

What We Know So Far: While another Terminator film has been in development for years, Annapurna Pictures and Paramount are finally pulling the trigger on a reboot that is planned as the first film in a new trilogy. It’s still unclear whether Arnold Schwarzenegger will indeed be back, but the official press release describes this film as “a rebooted Terminator movie,” so it wouldn’t be a shock if the pic featured an entirely new cast of characters. Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier wrote the screenplay, and we should hopefully hear official word about a director any day now.

What We Know So Far: Director Roland Emmerich is coming back to annihilate your Fourth of July weekend once again. Will Smith is not returning for the sci-fi sequel to Emmerich’s 1996 blockbuster Independence Day, but plenty of destruction is planned for the follow-up. Emmerich previously revealed that the story takes place 20 years after the original and centers on retaliation efforts by the alien race after their initial plot to conquer Earth failed. Bill Pullman is poised to reprise his role in the follow-up, and while there was initially talk of filming two sequels back-to-back, Fox wants to focus on only Independence Day 2 for now.

What We Know So Far: The inevitable fifth entry in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise will grace screens during the heat of Summer 2015. Johnny Depp will of course be reprising his role as Captain Jack Sparrow, and Kon-Tiki directors Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg will be taking the helm in an attempt to inject fresh blood into the franchise after the forgettable On Stranger Tides. The full title for Pirates 5is rumored to bePirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, but that has yet to be confirmed. Jeff Nathanson (Catch Me If You Can)wrote the screenplay, and filming is poised to get underway late this year or in early January.

What We Know So Far: Batman vs. Superman. That’s it. That’s all you need to know. The as-yet-untitled Zack Snyder superhero film aka Batman vs. Superman aka Man of Steel 2 is likely to be the can’t-miss movie of July, and fan speculation is already at a fever pitch before a frame of footage has even been shot. Ben Affleck will portray a Batman/Bruce Wayne who is “older and wiser than Clark Kent and bears the scars of a seasoned crime fighter,” while Henry Cavill will reprise his role as Superman. David S. Goyer is penning the script based off an idea he developed with Snyder, and Christopher Nolan—who produced Man of Steel—has stepped back to an executive producer role on this follow-up instead of his more hands-on involvement with the first film.

Filming on the untitled pic is poised to get underway in early 2014, with a large amount of location work to be done in Detroit and other Michigan cities. Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne, and Diane Lane are confirmed to reprise their characters from Man of Steel, but we still have no conformation with regards to who the villain will be or whether Batman and Superman will be allies or adversaries. However, this is the first time the DC Comics characters will appear onscreen together in a major feature film, so audiences will likely turn out in droves regardless of the story particulars.

What We Know So Far: Brilliant filmmaker Edgar Wright has been attached to direct this Marvel property for years, and the script—written by Wright and Joe Cornish—has been locked for quite some time. After pushing the project back in order to make the excellent The World’s End, Wright is finally set to tackle Ant-Man as his next film. Pre-production begins in October in anticipation of a 2014 shoot, but beyond that details are pretty non-existent. Wright and Marvel will likely zero in on their lead actor later this year, so hopefully we have firm word regarding who’s playing Ant-Man by early next year.

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